Longitudinal Magnetic Waves

Frederick David Tombe,

Northern Ireland, United Kingdom,
sirius184@hotmail.com
12th February 2023

Abstract. This article deals with the controversial topic of longitudinal waves in the same
medium that carries electromagnetic waves. It is often claimed that such longitudinal
waves have never been detected, and that they would interfere with the reflection and
refraction of light, and that hence the luminiferous medium must be incompressible, as
such, ruling out Maxwell’s sea of molecular vortices. A counter argument will now be
offered.

Three Kinds of Waves

I. To start with, three kinds of waves will be considered,

(a) Longitudinal waves of the kind that are familiar in ponderable matter,
and which are associated with bulk deformation and dissipation of
energy.

(b) Transverse waves of the kind that are familiar in ponderable matter, and
which are associated with shear deformation and dissipation of energy.

(c) Vortex waves, such as arise in the case of wireless electromagnetic

radiation, [1]. These are more than likely similar in principle to the kinetic
energy waves that pass through the rigid balls in Newton’s Cradle, [2]. In the
case of EM radiation, space is filled with tiny aethereal vortices, [3], [4], whereas
in the case of Newton’s Cradle, the constituent molecules of the metal balls
constitute aether vortices of a more complex structure. These vortex waves
operate on the principle of time-varying electromagnetic induction, whereby the
aether in a precessing vortex, spills over into its immediate neighbour. Vortex
waves are therefore tangential waves, axially deflected by the gyroscopic force
with respect to the vortices.

Steady State Magnetic Waves

II. Seldom discussed is the compression or rarefaction of a steady state

magnetic field. The deformation of the field pattern is easily visible when two
like-pole magnets are pressed together. Whether two compression waves begin
at the interface and reverse back towards the two source magnets, or whether a
single compression wave begins at one of the source magnets and travels across
to the other magnet, depends on whether the two magnetic fields freely collide
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due to their own momentum, or whether one of the source magnets is forced to
move against the interface. The reverse process, leading to rarefaction waves,
occurs when the two magnets recoil under their mutual force of repulsion, or if
one magnet is forcibly pulled away from the other, despite the mutual repulsion.
Then there is the case of magnetic attraction. No interface is involved since
the two magnets sit inside a communal magnetic field in which the field lines
join directly between the north pole of one magnet and the south pole of the
other magnet. If one magnet is pulled away from the other, relative to the
mutual magnetic field, a rarefaction wave will travel across to the other magnet.
But if instead, this magnet is pushed towards the other magnet so as to override
their mutual force of attraction, then a compression wave will move across to
the other magnet. For more details, see Appendix A after the reference section.
As well as these rather obvious longitudinal magnetic waves, we also have
the question of the much more subtle entrainment wave that spreads out from a
magnet to the outer edges of its field when it is linearly accelerated in a
situation where the motion is not being resisted by the magnetic field of another
magnet. This matter is closely related to the situation inside a long rigid rod that
is being dragged lengthwise at its mid-point, along a frictionless surface.

The Problem of the Long Metal Rod

III. When we drag a long metal rod lengthwise at its mid-point, the whole rod
appears to move as a single entity. While a compression wave must have moved
through the rod in the forward direction, and a rarefaction wave in the backward
direction, we know that these waves can’t be like any of the waves listed in
Section I above. There is no dissipation of energy involved, and neither is there
any basis for the time-varying electromagnetic induction mechanism to kick in,
and we know that the speed of these waves through the rod is much faster than
any known deformation wave in ponderable matter, and even faster than the
speed that the kinetic energy wave passes through Newton’s Cradle.
In the case of wireless EM waves, as stated above, we are looking at
precessing vortices causing an aethereal electric current to flow from vortex to
vortex, but in the case of steady state magnetic waves, we are looking at
something different, yet still in the same vortex sea medium.
It is now suggested, that in the latter case, the principle is based on a
different aspect of vortex theory, this being, that if we try to compress a vortex
in its equatorial plane, it spins faster, and hence exerts a higher centrifugal
pressure on its next neighbour along the line of propagation, [5]. And if we try to
stretch a vortex in the axial direction, it spins slower, causing a retarding torque
to act on its next neighbour along the axis. But in either case, unlike in the
electro-magnetic wave, there is no net fluid aether exchange (electric current
flow) between the vortices. And unlike in the case of electro-magnetic waves,
we have no way of establishing what speed they travel at, because in this

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situation, the speed won’t have any direct linkage to the circumferential speed
of the vortices. These magnetic waves, as opposed to electro-magnetic waves,
involve compression and rarefaction, and hence they constitute longitudinal
waves.
It will be assumed that the waves which propagate through a long metal rod
from its mid-point, when it is dragged lengthwise at its mid-point, such as to
make the rod appear to move as a single item, will operate on the same principle
as a longitudinal magnetic wave, but that it will be especially akin to the
entrainment wave mentioned at the end of Section II, since in such
circumstances, the compression or rarefaction will be on a considerably smaller
scale.

Conclusion
IV. In the year 1888, Lord Kelvin (Sir William Thomson), who had once
supported the idea of a vortex based luminiferous medium, changed his mind on
the grounds that a sea of vortices would be compressible, and hence
electromagnetic waves would have to involve a longitudinal component that is
incompatible with the reflection and refraction of light, [6]. What Lord Kelvin
didn’t consider, however, was the fact that the longitudinal waves would
involve a completely separate emission mechanism, and that they would not
automatically accompany the electromagnetic waves.
Electro-magnetic waves are based on the time-varying electro-magnetic
induction principle, and they are interwoven by a fluid electric current which
accounts for their mass and momentum. This electric fluid is the aether, and
these ‘wet waves’ of aether flow through the luminiferous medium, propagated
from aether vortex to aether vortex, due to the aether overflow that is caused by
the precession of these vortices, [3], [7]. Initiated by a tangential emission source
that causes the vortices to precess, the gyroscopic force, induced in turn by the
precessing vortices, deflects the electric current into the axial direction along the
line of propagation. On reaching a receiving antenna, the gyroscopic force then
deflects the electric current tangentially into the conducting wire.
The longitudinal waves in the sea of vortices, on the other hand, arise in a
completely different context, as in when a magnetic field is being compressed
or rarefied. These compression and rarefaction waves are ‘dry waves’ involving
no net flow of electric fluid. In the magnetic repulsion mode, the electric fluid is
hemmed inside the vortices as they press against each other with centrifugal
force while striving to dilate, [5], whereas in the magnetic attraction mode, there
is a two-way cancelling flow in the axial direction. The speed of these
longitudinal waves is unknown, and it may be many orders of magnitude greater
than the speed of light. See Appendix B after the reference section regarding
longitudinal waves in conjunction with the zero-divergence of a magnetic field.

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 References
[1] Tombe, F.D., “Wireless Radiation Beyond the Near Magnetic Field”, (2019)
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335169091_Wireless_Radiation_Beyond_the_Near
_Magnetic_Field

[2] Tombe, F.D., “Newton's Cradle Disproves Einstein's Theories of Relativity”, (2014)
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267569492_Newton's_Cradle_Disproves_Einstein's
_Theories_of_Relativity

[3] Lodge, Sir Oliver, “Ether (in physics)”, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Fourteenth Edition,
vol. 8, pp. 751-755, (1937)
See pages 6 and 7 in the pdf file in the link below, beginning at the paragraph that starts with,
Possible Structure.− , and note that while the quote suggests that the ether is incompressible,
this article suggests otherwise. The quote in question, in relation to the speed of light, reads,
“The most probable surmise or guess at present is that the ether is a perfectly
incompressible continuous fluid, in a state of fine-grained vortex motion, circulating with
that same enormous speed. For it has been partly, though as yet incompletely, shown that
such a vortex fluid would transmit waves of the same general nature as light waves— i.e.,
periodic disturbances across the line of propagation—and would transmit them at a rate of
the same order of magnitude as the vortex or circulation speed”
http://gsjournal.net/Science-
Journals/Historical%20PapersMechanics%20/%20Electrodynamics/Download/4105

[4] Clerk-Maxwell, J., “On Physical Lines of Force”, Philosophical Magazine, vol. XXI,
Fourth Series, London, (1861)
http://vacuum-physics.com/Maxwell/maxwell_oplf.pdf

[5] Whittaker, E.T., “A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity”, chapter 4, pp.
100-102, (1910)
“All space, according to the younger Bernoulli, is permeated by a fluid aether, containing
an immense number of excessively small whirlpools. The elasticity which the aether
appears to possess, and in virtue of which it is able to transmit vibrations, is really due to
the presence of these whirlpools; for, owing to centrifugal force, each whirlpool is
continually striving to dilate, and so presses against the neighbouring whirlpools.”

[6] Thomson, Sir William, “On the reflexion and refraction of light”, Philosophical
Magazine, vol. XXVI, Fifth Series, pp. 414-425, (1888)
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14786448808628288

[7] Tombe, F.D., “The Commonality between Light and Electric Current”, (2022)
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/364337354_The_Commonality_between_Light_an
d_Electric_Current

[8] Tombe, F.D., “The Double Helix and the Electron-Positron Aether”, (2017)
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319914395_The_Double_Helix_and_the_Electron-
Positron_Aether

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 Appendix A
(General Details Regarding the Deformation of a Steady State Magnetic Field)

When a magnet is rotated, its magnetic field is not entrained with it, but unless
it rotates about its magnetic axis, the tiny aether vortices in the luminiferous
medium, of which their solenoidal alignment along their mutual rotation axes
constitutes the magnetic field, will continually realign such that an identical
magnetic field will co-rotate with the magnet. It’s only in the case when a
magnet undergoes translational motion that the magnetic field is actually
entrained with the motion. This is due to the angle at which the vortices in the
magnetic field are bonded into the magnet, and it is a very important factor
when it comes to explaining the magnetic force that acts between two magnets.
Since this force is transmitted through their magnetic fields, the magnets need to
be strongly bonded into these fields in order for there to be any grip.
In the case of magnetic repulsion between like-pole magnets, the field lines
of the two magnets meet laterally at an interface, and so the repulsion is caused
by centrifugal pressure in the mutually aligned equatorial planes of the vortices.
The explanation for magnetic attraction between unlike poles is however
somewhat different. In the case of magnetic attraction, the vortices are aligned
along their mutual rotation axis and the attractive force is due to electrostatic
aether tension between the electron sinks and positron sources within the
vortices. These electrons and positrons form a double helix pattern along each
magnetic line of force, [8], and when a north pole and a south pole magnet move
together, whether forced externally, or by their mutual force of attraction, the
vortices will spin faster. Therefore, the compression wave will always involve a
propagation of faster spin, while the rarefaction wave will always involve a
propagation of slower spin.

Fig. 1. A single magnetic line of force. The electrons are shown in red, and the positrons are shown in
black. The double helix is rotating about its axis with a circumferential speed equal to the speed of light,
and the rotation axis represents the magnetic field vector.

In Fig. 1, if we stretch the line of force along its length, providing that it is
not in the process of being inflated by a rising source electric current, then the
rotation rate of the dipoles will slow down. The same will happen when the
lateral pressure reduces, as when two like-magnetic poles are moving apart from
each other.

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 If, however, we compress this magnetic line of force, either along its length
or laterally from the sides, providing that it is not in the process of discharging
its electric fluid into an electric inductor circuit that has just been switched off,
the dipoles will then spin faster.

Appendix B
(Longitudinal Waves in Connection with Zero Divergence)

There is a theory which says that if the divergence of a vector field is zero,
that this rules out longitudinal waves. The argument is normally explained
within the context of a deformation displacement field in an elastic medium
where the divergence is connected directly to the state of compression or to
the state of rarefaction of the medium. However, by this line of reasoning,
we would have to be physically interpreting the concept of divergence in
connection with sinks and sources in hydrodynamics, which of course is not
a problem, since elasticity ultimately comes down to aether hydrodynamics
at a deeper level. The deeper level involvement of aether hydrodynamics in
elasticity theory explains why the speed of light, the dielectric constant, and
the electric permittivity, are all so closely related to the speed of the
circumferential aether flow around the edge of the tiny vortices that fill all
of space, [7], and which due to their mutual alignment along their rotation
axes, make up the prevailing magnetic field.
But the problem now at hand is to establish how this very same wave
carrying medium also permits the existence of longitudinal steady state
magnetic waves, when we know that the divergence of a magnetic field, is
without exception, always equal to zero. A clue was given in Appendix A
above, where we saw that magnetic field lines are comprised of an equal
number of sinks and sources, and where it was suggested that steady state
magnetic waves are in fact spin-waves, but this in itself does not solve the
problem. We need to take a closer look at the precise physical meaning of
the divergence of a magnetic field, where cylindrical symmetry applies,
because it is different from the physical meaning of divergence in
connection with radial fields, such as the electrostatic field, where the field
lines terminate on negatively charged particles (sinks), or positively charged
particles (sources).
To begin with, the most important fact to realize is that the magnetic
field, B, is a solenoidal vector field, and that its zero-divergence is not based
on any inverse square law of distance. Its zero divergence is based on the
Maxwell equation, ∇×A = B, where the vector field, A, referred to by
Maxwell as the electromagnetic momentum, is given no physical meaning in
the modern textbooks and is merely referred to as the magnetic vector
potential. This means that the magnetic field, B, is an axial vector, and so its
zero divergence has got no bearing whatsoever on the issue of compression,

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rarefaction, or longitudinal wave propagation. The magnitude of the
magnetic vector, B, is not derived from a net balance of sources and sinks,
but rather from a spin factor. Its direction does however run through the
middle of a spinning double helix spiral of equal and opposite sources
(positrons) and sinks (electrons).
Then there is the very interesting vector field, A, itself, which opens up
a few more questions. Based on the Maxwell equation, ∇×A = B, mentioned
above, the vector A is the primary physical essence of a magnetic field, and
it would appear to represent the momentum of the circumferential aether
flow within the vortices, while the axial magnetic field vector, B, merely
represents the vorticity. The vector A therefore represents a tiny, closed
electric circuit, where space is densely packed with such tiny circuits. In the
steady state, the radial centrifugal force that is acting outwards in each one
of these tiny vortices, is balanced by the centrifugal force that is pressing
inwards on them from the immediately neighbouring vortices, such as to
hem them in. And since there is no transverse force acting when in the
steady state, conservation of angular momentum would suggest that A has
an inverse dependence on radial distance from the centre of the vortex.
Taking the cylindrical symmetry into consideration, this means that we will
probably have to accept that, in the steady sate, its divergence is in fact zero,
because even in the case of electro-magnetic waves, where the tiny electric
current is flying off axially at a tangent, from circuit to circuit, the
mathematical analysis treats the divergence of A as being zero. But, as in
the case of B, since this zero-divergence has got nothing to do with sinks or
sources, it will present no impediment to the luminiferous medium
supporting the longitudinal spin-waves that arise in connection with the
compression and rarefaction of a steady state magnetic field.
When electro-magnetic waves are passing through and disturbing the
steady state, the vortices precess, and aether overflows tangentially from
vortex to vortex, and due to the gyroscopic effect, this tangential flow is
deflected perpendicularly into the axial direction. The vector A then
becomes Maxwell’s displacement current. Treating the divergence of A as
zero is known inappropriately as the Coulomb gauge. The name is
inappropriate because the electrostatic Coulomb force is not explicitly
involved in the propagation mechanism.
In the case of the Lorenz gauge, on the other hand, where the
divergence of A is not zero, and the electrostatic Coulomb force is explicitly
involved, we are operating in a convective state where energy exchanges
between fields in motion, relative to the background electron-positron
vortex sea, involve the radial flow of aether (electric fluid) between electron
sinks and positron sources.